The former county surveyor who had the longest consecutive term of any surveyor in Kosciusko history is the September Veteran of the Month.
Charles “Chuck” Brower, who was the surveyor from 1961 to 1989, was presented with the honor at the Kosciusko County commissioners meeting Tuesday in the old county courthouse.
Before reading Brower’s biography, County Veterans Affairs Officer Rich Maron said, “It really is an honor this morning. We’ve honored so many vets in the last few years, but this one obviously is close to home and close to this building. And by the crowd you can see there’s a lot of people here that have come to say thanks to Chuck this morning.”
Chuck was born in 1926 to Victor and Lela Brower of Dowagiac, Mich. They moved back to Indiana and lived in the Pierceton and North Webster area. He is the fifth son out of a family of six boys and one girl. Brower’s four younger brothers also served in the military.
Brower signed up for the military when he was a high school senior. He was told he wasn’t old enough yet, but as soon as he was he was called and he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force. That was about two months after graduating high school.
During World War II, Brower did boot camp at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He wanted to be a pilot, but he was told they had all the pilot positions filled. He was given a choice of either being a mechanic or a gunner, and he chose gunner.
Brower went to gunnery school in Denver, Colo. Part of his training included riding in the back of a truck and shooting clay targets down with a machine gun, Maron said. He received the highest score in competition with all the other gunners at gunnery school. The training prepared him for his first duty assignment as a gunner bombardier on a B17 aircraft.
Brower received his first duty assignment to England, but the day before his crew was set to leave, Germany surrendered and their flight was cancelled. He was reassigned to B29 Gunnery School, which kept him in the Denver, Colo., area.
Brower again received an overseas duty assignment, but then Japan surrendered and so went his chances of seeing any action, Acton said.
After that, Brower was on military leave for a while, and hitch-hiked from Denver to California to visit his brother Eldon who was stationed there with the Merchant Marines. He stopped in Los Angeles and went to the Palladium and was picked out of the crowd and found himself up on stage with a chorus of dancing girls.
Brower’s final assignment was in Florida. He was stationed with an Air Sea Rescue Unit that would fly over the ocean and look for people or boats in distress.
When his service ended he was honorably discharged and began his trip back home to Indiana.
After his time in the military, Brower enrolled at Tri State University through the G.I. Bill and received his civil engineering degree.
In 1961 he ran for the position of Kosciusko County surveyor, won and held that position for 28 years. He earned his surveyor’s license during his first term.
Brower mentored Richard Kemper and Mike Kissinger, both who became the county surveyor.
Brower is the proud father of two children. His daughter, Sue Gladieux, has worked in the surveyor’s office for 45 years; and his son, Mike Brower, is retired from public television.
